GMAT Forum

[cooldude87]

Anyone that has taken/studied for the GMAT know what the best books are to study?

[Micdiddy]

Uhhhh, uhhhh. Is there no top-business-school.com or are you enamored with the amount of intelligence on this site?
But to answer your question, I have no idea, but I'm guessing not Kaplan.

[Balthy]

The official prep books aren't bad, considering the fact that nothing on the GMAT is very hard. If you are a non-math guy like me, you may have to look up a few things since the math book isn't very comprehensive, but it's really so easy compared to the LSAT that you could probably get past any problem you're having with a lack of info in the book by simply thinking about it for 5 seconds. The hardest part to get a perfect score on is probably the essay and for that I suggest looking at a few good examples (on the gmat website i think) and then reading tons of business articles from whichever magazines you prefer so you can have the evidnce/examples you want to connect for your argument. Just make sure they cover a wide range of topics, not just what interests you.

[Mik Ekim]

Manhattan GMAT.

Additionally --

1) The essay is not a part of your score.

2) The GMAT is computer adaptive, so make sure you are getting plenty of practice with adaptive online exams.

Good luck--

Mike Kim
Co-creator Manhattan LSAT

[eliztudorr]

took it before. with Manhattan GMAT after researching on various test prep companies. i took the online course and the sets come with the official guides along with the manhattan materials. LOADS of books....if you can self study through them with the online courses, you should be fine.

the test is fairly easy compare to LSAT if you also studied the LSAT or at least seen some LSAT questions. like seriously, GMAT looks like a joke compare to LSAT. i would say GMAT is pretty much like a college level test. the essay is the key i think.

also, the questions gets harder as you get the questions right. thats the interesting part of the test. because you won't really notice it. so make sure you learn to do the harder questions.

like one of the previous poster said, if you are not a math guy, there's some basic math you need to brush up on. its not hard tho. like basic high school level math would do. and you don't even need to solve the math..just the logic of it.

read as many business article as you can because the essay requires you to have some basic knowledge. essay writing is just basic level writing if english is your first language. its normal argument passage you have to write for the SATs. pick a side, and pull through with your reasons to why you support it.

i took it when they didn't add some "financial" section, so i cannot say much about that. but i think that's all learnable.

best of luck.

[609d]

The essay is very much not key to the test. It's basically there so that adcoms can check that you speak english. At least for now, the IR section isn't too important either.

I'll second that Manhattan GMAT is the way to go (I was fine just using their books along with the online tests that come with them).

Also worth noting--the GMAT is much less important for b-school admissions than the LSAT is for law school admissions. The general rule is that you just need to hit 700+ to be in play (maybe 720/730 if you're a non-URM from a finance/consulting background). Beyond that, there are diminishing returns on increased scores. Your essays/LORs/WE/Interview are weighted much more heavily than they would be when applying to law school.